Regular British troops will not be sent to fight the Taliban, Robin Cook signalled tonight. 
	
	
 His remarks came as the militia began talks on surrendering its spiritual home of Kandahar after Northern Alliance troops finally entered Kunduz. 
	
	
 SAS [Special Air Service] soldiers and their American counterparts are fighting alongside the Alliance as they have swept across large swathes Afghanistan. 
	
	
 But Commons Leader Mr Cook said: "If you look back over the past month there has been no situation in which we have put British troops into the ground civil war and I don't myself imagine that's going to change." 
	
	
 British troops remained on 48 hour stand-by but the situation was "better than anybody could have hoped for", according to Mr Cook. 
	
	
 "We will continue obviously to keep the situation under review, but frankly, I think we should welcome the fact that their presence has not been needed in Afghanistan. This is not a reverse, it's actually an advance," he added. 
	
	
 News of the Kandahar negotiations came after the Taliban control crumbled in their final northern stronghold of Kunduz following mass surrender. 
	
	
 The city's top Taliban commander was among thousands of Afghan and foreign troops who gave themselves up after days of talks interspersed with fighting. 
	
	
 However, night fell before the Alliance could secure the city, increasing the danger of militants fighting back. 
	
	
 Hours after the vanguard entered from the west, a tank column halted its advance from the east, fearing hostile fire. 
	
	
 The surrender took days to hammer out, primarily because hard core Taliban and foreign troops from Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida terror network did not want to give up. 
	
	
 The fall of Kunduz leaves Kandahar as the Taliban's last major stronghold following the rapid collapse of their regime across the majority of the country. 
	
	
 Hundreds of foreign fighters captured in the siege of the northern city were killed in a prison riot at a fortress outside Mazar-e-Sharif, the Northern Alliance said. 
	
	
 But that did not stop Taliban commanders discussing the surrender of Kandahar, following calls from 70 Afghan tribal leaders for them to avert bloodshed. 
	
	
 "There are some talks and negotiations going on there (in Kandahar) with the Taliban to surrender themselves," Gen Mohammed Zaer Azimi said in Herat. 
	
	
 Ruud Lubbers, the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees, said Afghanistan was not yet secure for aid agencies to operate in and "not enough" food had been taken into the country. 
	
	
 "It is not at all a secure environment," he told the programme. 
	
	
 "So although our international staff went back to Kabul and hope to go back to the other places ... one cannot say it is safe in the country and secure enough. 
	
	
 "So there is quite a job to be done in creating a secure environment for humanitarian assistance." 
	
	
 His concerns echoed those voiced by leading charity Oxfam, which said instability across the country was hampering aid efforts. 
	
	
 But the Prime Minister's official spokesman today said Tony Blair was pleased with the progress that had been made on the military, diplomatic and humanitarian fronts. 
	
	
 "The situation obviously remains fluid from hour to hour but it seems to be going in the right direction," the spokesman said. 
	
	
 The campaign so far showed Alliance military success was the best way of getting food in, he said. 
	
	
 He again stressed that Britain would need to see evidence before it became involved in military action in other countries. 
	
	
 "In terms of the war on terrorism we have always said this is a multi-faceted campaign but equally we have also said any future military action would have to be based on evidence," he said. 
	
	
 "This campaign is not over. We are still in the middle of fighting the war in Afghanistan."